Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball Takes on Columbia Tonight

Nov 30, 2009

Nov. 30, 2009

FAIRFIELD, CT - Setting The Scene: The Sacred Heart men's basketball team returns home after a three-game road trip to host the Columbia Lions on Monday at 7:00 pm. The Pioneers are coming off an 87-75 loss at Penn State on Wednesday.

Series: This is the eighth career meeting between these two schools and Columbia holds a 4-3 edge but the Pioneers have won the last two. Sacred Heart captured last season's contest, 84-79 in overtime.

12/28/08 SHU 84 at Columbia 79 (OT)

11/30/07 SHU 75 Columbia 59

12/2/06 at Columbia 76 SHU 71

11/30/05 Columbia 61 SHU 59

12/9/04 at Columbia 76 SHU 67

12/2/03 Columbia 85 SHU 79 (OT)

1/6/03 SHU 59 at Columbia 58

SHU vs. the Ivy League: Sacred Heart has a 10-16 record against Ivy League foes, including a 92-86 win over Yale this season. The Pioneers have faced Columbia (3-4), Cornell (1-1), Harvard (3-5) and Yale (3-6). SHU has never faced Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton, and will take on Brown for the first time on December 30.

Scouting the Opponent: Sophomore Noruwa Agho is off to a hot start, averaging a team-high 20.5 points and shooting an incredible 72 percent (18-25) from three-point range. He is also tied for the team lead in steals.Patrick Foley is the only other Lion averaging in double figures at ten points per game, and leading the team in assists with 15. Junior Brian Grimes is averaging 8.3 points per game and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per contest.

Columbia is off to a 2-2 start and coming off an 85-60 loss at Syracuse on Friday. They have wins over Longwood (72-61) and Bucknell (73-59). Upcoming Games:The Pioneers will host Monmouth in the Northeast Conference opener on Saturday and then hit the road for a pair of contests at Hartford (Dec. 11) and Fairfield (Dec. 13).

Hot Starts: Senior Corey Hassan is the first Division I player in school history to start the season with five straight 20+ scoring performances. He is averaging 26 points per game over that stretch. The previous best in D1 was when Maurice Bailey scored 20 or more in four of his first five games in 2001-02, averaging 21 points per game. The school record is held by Darrin Robinson who did it an amazing eight straight games that included seven 30+ performances. He averaged an impressive 33.6 points per game to help the Pioneers to a 6-2 start.

New Face: A new face could enter the Pioneer lineup tonight when freshman walkon Toso Adebanowo suits up. Out of Marianapolis Prep and Lincoln, RI, he has been practicing with the team since October but will dress for the first time against Columbia.